My wife and I were sitting on the couch. My 17-year-old daughter and her boyfriend stood before us. My daughter moved close to her boyfriend and said, "Mom, Dad, we have something to tell you."

Well.

Have you ever ridden on a roller coaster? You are in the front seat and you are just rounding the top. You can see the drop off in front of you, your knuckles whiten as you squeeze the safety bar and your stomach muscles contract. I sat there on top of this drop off.

As my stomach went down over the hill, a million thoughts raced through my mind: She is a high school honor student with six months to go until graduation. Her mom works at the school. I'm a school board director. She's been accepted at a Christian college with thousands of dollars in grants. How could she do this to us? She is active in the church youth group. She is on the missions team. Her mother sang in the choir. I was an elder. She'll have to face our pastor, the elders, and the congregation.

Well, my daughter left in tears. She must have read my thoughts. There were no thoughts of joy, acceptance, or love. Now, fear gripped me. Had I driven my daughter away? Who would she go to for advice now? Who is available in our community? Planned Parenthood is well advertised, I thought, as well as other politically-correct organizations.

What would they tell my daughter?

I agonized over what they would tell her. "Your quality of life will be ruined if you don't do something. Do you want to finish high school? Do you want to go on to college? Do you want to keep your thousands of dollars of grant money? Well then, just have an abortion; it is safe and legal-the Supreme Court of the United States says so. And, you won't have to tell your friends at school or church. You won't have to face your pastor, the elders or the congregation. You won't have to be an embarrassment to your parents. No one will ever have to know! After all, it's only a mass of tissue."

How could a young person resist this tempting advice to take such an "easy" escape?

Well, thank God that there was and is an alternative organization in our community, Cornerstone Pregnancy Center.

Thanks to them my daughter Stephanie did graduate from high school. She did not lose her college grant money. She is a full time college student. Her pastor, congregation, family and friends are very proud of her-especially proud, because she is also Alexander's full-time mom.

I'm proud of my daughter because when her earthly father faltered on the couch, she kept faith in her Heavenly Father. She kept trust in the Bible, and she had the courage to make the right choice.I am thankful for the staff, the volunteers, and the financial supporters that make CPC possible and available for families in crisis like mine. I know that what they all are doing is not easy. They are underpaid and overworked. My dear friend Bob had a crisis in his own family. His daughter was near death in an automobile accident; yet, he still had time for CPC. The volunteers, like Debbie, Jean, and Dara, have families of their own to care for. Yet, they have time for CPC. The financial supporters-all they hear is "give, give, give." They get literature every week in the mail asking for money. I wish that I could tell them, "Look, you've helped rescue Alexander, now take some time off and enjoy yourselves." But I know that they wouldn't do it, because they know that there are more Stephanies and Alexanders out there.

Adapted from a speech given in November, 1996 for Cornerstone Pregnancy Care Services in Gap, PA.